Sony just restarted its Playstation Network, after the massive security fail dismissed as a 'hiccup' by Sony CEO Howard Stringer. Well, the PSN has barely been up two days, and a massive security oversight has already been discovered. Yes, Sony just got Sony'd. Again. Unbelievable.

Sorry, this is wierd logic. Any company that wants to be relevant will examine their market and treat their customers well. Otherwise they deserve to fail and be replaced by another entity which does it better and friendlier.

Stupidity like this propagates when companies are deemed "too big to fail" and when smaller business contenders are frankly killed because of artificial barriers that exist due to excessive regulation, stupid tax codes, confusing legal codes, patent corruption, etc. Basically the enemies to the free market.

I agree, natural market forces should be motivating companies to place customer benefits ahead of shareholder benefits. In a healthy market, the company that favored the shareholder would loose out to a company that favored the customer.

Deep pocket lobbying has done a lot to sully the situation. Marketing and mass media brainwashing doesn't hurt the profiteers either. The businesses primary goal being directly at odds with that of the consumer. And, it's not just the business side though either; us consumers in general are apathetic and only interested in the cheapest easiest solution until after the fact when it bites us in the ass. Even my own buying history includes a minority of fast purchases that lead to quality replacements from another vendor soon after.

From the business perspective, it's about making a quick profit over the short term to impress the board and shareholders. The CEO is contracted for only a few years and must show performance in that time to justify a bonus and negotiate the next contract based on the previous one. If CEO Bob's last corporation showed a steady decline then he's going to have trouble negotiating an even more exorbitant salary from the next engagement. From the shareholder perspective, they don't invest money in Nike because they are passionate about sports equipment; they do so because they expect to see returns on that investment. Most of Microsoft's investors don't care what product the company makes just so long as it continues to increase shareholder wealth.

From the consumer side, it is wierd to realize that the business perspective is so diametrically opposed to the marketing line and your interests.